Rupert Grint: “Ron gave gingers respect”

Red-haired Rupert praises another “ginger”,Prince Harry and is glad his screen kiss with friend Emma is over! He tells us his saddest scene.

At one time Rupert Grint told us he wasn’t sure he’d continue to act once he’d grown up. Now, the actor looks forward to his new film projects but is still in sad transition from his “Potter” years.

Kidzworld: Pop quiz! Can you name all the movies?

Rupert Grint: Just about I think. Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets, Prisoner of Azkaban, Goblet of Fire, Order of the Phoenix, The Half-Blood Prince, Deathly Hallows part 1 and 2.

Kidzworld: Very good, so now your favorite scene from all the films?

Rupert: There is so many really, I find it hard to pick out one, but I think the chess scene in the first one was quite a cool one. It was a huge set and things were being blown up. For an 11-year-old, it was just the coolest place to be. I loved that one.

Kidzworld: What was a fun scene in Part 2?

Rupert: I loved all the Gringotts stuff, coming in there with all these goblins and being in the vault with all this gold and drowning in gold. It was a really cool scene.

Kidzworld: Did you do anything special when shooting this film to help get you in the mood? There were some sad scenes.

Rupert: Not really no (nothing special). One of the most depressing scenes I’ve ever done was Fred’s death I think. The Great Hall became this World War 2 hospital wing scattered with the dead and injured. It was all the Weasleys huddled around this body and the set was completely quiet, just silence. I’ve got a brother so I could relate to it a bit and it was quite a depressing thing to do. I think you just feel it when you’re on the set hearing Maggie Smith sobbing, it brought the mood down.

Kidzworld: Did JK share or a director share something about your character’s back-story that was never revealed in the books or movies?

Rupert: Not really. Whenever JK Rowling came to the set and we would chat, we rarely ever spoke about the story, we just kind of chatted generally. She filled us in with the epilogue, where the characters go and what they do for a living. She had written the rest of their lives really, so that was quite interesting to hear what we all became.

Kidzworld: Some fans waited a long time to see Ron and Hermione making out and when it actually happened, it went by very quickly. How did you feel about the brevity of that and were you hoping that that scene might go on a little longer?

Rupert: Was I hoping we were making out longer? Er, no, not at all! Yeah, it was a tricky one to do. Obviously I’ve known Emma so long. We were mutually both dreading the scene slightly. It was a moment that was not in the book but what the director came up with. We just wanted to make it believable, the romance of it, because as you say, it’s been built up for so many years now and we wanted people to think that we actually wanted to kiss each other. In reality we really didn’t! But it was fine. It was a nice moment and hopefully people will believe it.

Kidzworld: Did they make you do it over and over? Or was it just a couple of takes?

Rupert: We did about four takes. I find it hard to recall anything about that day. It’s been erased from my mind! Yeah, we had a laugh about it. It was fine.

Kidzworld: How different is it filming Potter from Wild Target and Cherry Bomb or other indie films?

Rupert: It’s very different. Harry Potter is quite difficult to compare anything to. It’s quite a unique machine. It’s a very different experience on all of these smaller films, because you’re not with the familiar crew that you’ve grown up with. You’re with new people. It always takes a while for me to kind of adjust and I learn a lot from these other films. It’s nice to play a different character. Quite refreshing.

Kidzworld: How do you feel about filming the ending of the Potter movies? Any special scene just “get” you?

Rupert: It has been quite an emotional week and seeing the film as well, I did get quite choked up at the end. There’s this one scene where it’s the three of us after the battle and we are walking on the bridge and the castle is destroyed behind us. It felt kind of parallel with our own lives really It’s over for us as well. It’s quite sad because I’m going to really miss it.

Kidzworld: Where were you when you were first recognized? When did you know you were famous?

Rupert: It took me a while to adjust to it, because I was always quite a shy kid. The sudden attention is quite strange and never being invisible completely. It’s something you actually take for granted. I remember the first time I was recognized was at a shopping center where I live which was near a school and the first film had just come out. It was really weird but I enjoyed it. It was quite cool actually, as it’s something I’ve never really hid from. It’s just become a part of my life now but it’s a bit strange.

Kidzworld: How has playing Ron rubbed off on you over the years?

Rupert: I always felt this close connection to Ron. Even before the films. After ten years playing the same guy kind of every day, you morph into him. “We” become this “Ronpert” kind of being which I think will stay with me for a while. There will be a bit of Ron in me for the rest of my life.

Kidzworld: Do you feel like a role model for red-haired people?

Rupert: Yeah, I get a lot of support from people in the ginger community. They shake my hand. (Note: this reporter, who is ginger, has happily done so). I’ve always been quite a proud ginger. I don’t know about America but in England, having ginger hair is not the coolest thing really. We get quite an unfair hassle. It’s nice that Ron is quite a respected ginger guy and Prince Harry as well is really cool!

Kidzworld: So now, at the end, what are you feeling?

Rupert: It’s been a very weird time really accepting the end. We finished filming a year ago and I was left with this quite empty feeling. It’s taken me quite a while to fully accept it. We had the London premiere a few days ago and I got really emotional! I’m not usually that emotional. It’s going to take a while for me to let go of this. This experience has really been my childhood. To come down to this last film feels really weird. But I’m slowly getting used to it.

WARNING: SPOILERS BELOW!

Kidzworld: Can you talk about the aging process for the film (at the end)?

Rupert: The first attempt my character in particular was quite terrified. I looked like a monster really (laughs) a bit like a Donald Trump, I had no hair and I was obese. I think it was a bit too much. Then they found the balance finally. It was a very strange thing to film really, just sitting in the makeup chair and watching them gradually age me. It was quite terrifying.

Kidzworld: But the kid playing your son looked just like you!

Rupert: Yeah, he did, it was really weird. Really strange. It’s just something you don’t really think about becoming a dad and then to get in to that frame of mind is quite scary.

Kidzworld: What’s next for you?

Rupert: I don’t know! I love acting and I loved doing these other films in between. I did a film a few months ago, a World War II story. I’m just kind of moving on and playing different roles.